Network management systems (NMS) facilitate the exchange of management information between network elements. An NMS can be used to provision service connections between network elements. There are a number of issues with existing service provisioning techniques, particularly when managing growing networks. For example, tables used for service provisioning are maintained at the NMS and network element level. The structures of these tables generally need to be modified each time a new service type is introduced into the network. Another problem is that existing systems may be susceptible to dangling service endpoints or connections, which can build up over the long term and bog down the network. Also undesirable is the fact that most service provisioning systems require a carrier's operation support system (OSS) to be responsible for handling failed transactions, such as a failed creation of a connection in a network element. It would be desirable to develop a more efficient, reliable, and scalable service provisioning mechanism capable of managing large scale networks.